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du Considers Adding Crypto & Investment Tools To New Service

The company plans to bridge gaps in one of the financial market’s most underserved demographics, according to its CEO.

Published

3 years ago

April 23, 2024

du considers adding crypto and investment tools to new service

The Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, better known as Dubai-based du, is contemplating incorporating cryptocurrency and investment tools into its recently launched financial technology platform, according to CEO Nicolas Levi.

According to Levi, the potential enhancements would enable improved portfolio management for investors. The new tools and features would be realized through future partnerships while continuing to adhere to strict UAE regulations.

“Cryptocurrencies are being used as an investment. Will we have an investment product one day potentially? I’m not saying no to that. Will we use crypto for our own transactions? There are some plans with the [UAE] central bank to work on that,” Levi said in a recent interview.

The UAE Central Bank does not currently recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender. However, the regulator began implementing its own form of digital currency back in March 2023, known as Digital Dirham. Additionally, the UAE Central Bank’s endorsement of legitimate crypto enterprises for banking services underscores the Emirates’ commitment to addressing real-world financial needs.

Also Read: Lebanese Newspaper Builds AI President To Beat Political Crisis

du Pay, the company’s inaugural venture into the FinTech sector, had a soft launch earlier this month after UAE Central Bank authorization. Offering an array of financial services like domestic and international transfers, bill payments, recharges, and salary receipts through a unique IBAN, du Pay marks a significant strategic move by the telecom firm into the digital finance space.

The rising trend of mobile-based financial services in the UAE, including digital wallets and online payments, mirrors global trends. Statista projects the digital payments market to balloon to $16.7 trillion by 2028, at a CAGR exceeding 9.5% from 2024’s estimated $11.53 trillion.

Related Topics:Cryptocurrency Du FinTech

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Abu Dhabi Is Making Its Rulebook Readable To AI, With OpenAI

Routine compliance checks that once took days can now return in minutes, while officials stay accountable for decisions affecting people’s rights.

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2026

Dana Saadeh

abu dhabi is making its rulebook readable to ai with openai

Applying AI to old processes only goes so far, according to those steering Abu Dhabi’s digital strategy. So the emirate has started with the rules themselves.

The Abu Dhabi Government and OpenAI have launched Machine-Readable Government (MRG), an initiative that translates a defined set of policies and regulations into a form AI systems can read and apply. A system takes a case, checks it against the rules and produces a decision linked to the exact clause behind it. Routine cases can be processed around the clock, with decisions returned in minutes that once took days of manual review.

The system still has government teams to set the standards and review complex cases, and officials remain accountable for every final decision. The framework isn’t intended to make autonomous decisions in high-stakes areas, or determinations that affect individuals’ rights or access to essential services.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “By making certain laws machine-readable, while keeping people in control of decision-making, Abu Dhabi has set a new standard for AI-enabled public services”.

The first pilot is live with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), covering food imports, in collaboration with Inception42, a G42 Company. It validated a reusable Policy Adoption Engine that converts narrative policy into automated compliance checks. Business and freelance licensing, data access governance, HR compliance and procurement are next.

Also Read: Dubai Doubles Its AI Campus Target To 1,000 Companies By 2030

The AI processing runs on GPUs inside UAE data centers governed by local cybersecurity standards and subject to Abu Dhabi law. The announcement describes this as making the UAE the first country in the Middle East to deploy OpenAI’s GPT models on in-country inference infrastructure. The government retains full ownership of all data created through the system, and that data is not used to train AI models.

His Excellency Ahmed Tamim Hisham Al Kuttab, Chairman of the Department of Government Enablement – Abu Dhabi (DGE), which leads and governs the initiative, said: “It is the connective tissue between Abu Dhabi’s ambition and its delivery, and it puts us on a path no other government has yet taken”.